WEATHER
Albuquerque shatters heat record; Roswell nearly reaches 90 degrees on the first day of March
Unseasonably warm, dry weather breaks decades-old highs across New Mexico and brings fire danger warnings even as a brief cool-down looms later in the week.
It may be early March, but it feels like spring, warm enough for participants in Sunday's Mother Road Half Marathon to run in shorts and T-shirts.
At Albuquerque International Sunport a high of 79 degrees was reported. This breaks a record set in 1974, 74 degrees, according to the National Weather Service of Albuquerque.
In early March, it is typically in the upper 50s, NWS meteorologist Michael Anand said.
In eastern New Mexico, it was 88 degrees in Roswell, two degrees above its record high, 86, that was set in 2006. About 90 miles northeast, Portales broke an 85-year-old record (80 degrees set in 1941) when temperatures hit 83 degrees, according to the NWS website.
The warm and dry weather is expected to continue through the week.
On Monday, highs are expected to reach the mid-70s in western and northern New Mexico and the low 80s in Albuquerque and parts of eastern New Mexico, he said.
A red flag warning will be issued for Las Vegas and Raton on Monday while warnings could be issued in the eastern side of the state on Tuesday, Anand said.
The high pressure system is expected to move east later in the week bringing temperatures down to the low 60s before it warms back up to around 70 on Sunday. That is also when parts of the state could see some precipitation, he said.
